THE soft rumble of thousands of pairs of South Yorkshire feet shuffling out of the stands minutes ahead of the final whistle at Bramall Lane provided the audible signal that Tranmere had passed the latest examination of their promotion credentials.

THE soft rumble of thousands of pairs of South Yorkshire feet shuffling out of the stands minutes ahead of the final whistle at Bramall Lane provided the audible signal that Tranmere had passed the latest examination of their promotion credentials.

The home fans left early because it was obvious sometime before the end that Sheffield United were not going to find a way through the well-organised lines of the surprise League One leaders.

Rovers went about their work with such composure and efficiency that they probably shaded on points a contest that had more to offer to football technicians and coaches than anyone looking for some Saturday afternoon excitement.

That was no mean feat for a Rovers side put together on a fraction of the resources most of their rivals can draw upon and missing a quartet of influential players.

The bookmakers regard Sheffield United as clear favourites to go up from a division that has not, as yet, produced an outstanding team.

With more than 30 professionals on the books and the money to recruit in the transfer window next month, strength in depth is not a problem for Blades manager Danny Wilson.

Pleasing the faithful is another matter.

United may be unbeaten in League One games at Bramall Lane since early March, but here they did not look like a team who enjoy playing at home.

Their audience is an impatient one at the best of times and the disappointment of missing promotion after collecting 90 points last season was compounded by the fact that city rivals Sheffield Wednesday went up.

The fans’ irritation with the Blades’ inability to cut through a team of bargain basement upstarts like Tranmere became increasingly apparent during the second-half.

Both sides did their best to live up to a reputation for playing attractive, passing football and both proved more adept at cramping each other’s style than creating openings themselves.

There was mutual respect in the approach of both camps here.

Tranmere manager Ronnie Moore took the unusual step of departing from his familiar 4-4-2 formation to a 4-4-1-1 setup designed to prevent United’s full-backs and wide midfielders getting behind them down the flanks.

The ploy worked.

Andy Robinson’s move into a role just behind the central striker wasn’t successful in providing opportunities for Rovers’ most creative player to get on the ball in threatening positions.

But Robinson’s presence inhibited the home defenders and midfielders from pushing forward.

The reshuffle produced a change in personnel with Moore preferring Max Power in central midfield to Danny Harrison.

The 19-year-old second-year professional responded with a confident and assertive contribution and went as close as anyone to scoring for the visitors with a venomous 35-yard shot that narrowly cleared the crossbar.

When Tranmere had to defend balls thrown into the box from deep and wide positions, the 40-year-old Ian Goodison handled the threat of Chris Porter and then substitute Dave Kitson with aplomb.

Meanwhile the full-backs, given extra protection by Michael O’Halloran and Adam McGurk, kept the side door shut.

Owain Fon Williams made his only difficult save of the game on 17 minutes, diving to his right to keep an angled shot from Tony McMahon out of the bottom corner.

Tranmere’s response, a quarter of an hour later, was a long-range free-kick from McGurk that flew just wide of the right-hand post with goalkeeper George Long scrambling.

If the visitors were pleased with their holding operation, the instruction at half-time was to try and take more of the initiative.

They did it to good effect, keeping the ball so well that United were never able to build the momentum to put Fon Williams’ goal under any sort of pressure.

If Tranmere’s football had a weakness it was the inability to play a telling final ball, a failing was also common to the Yorkshire outfit.

Rovers had just a couple of uncomfortable moments in the second-half, first when a loose pass in midfield allowed Shaun Miller the opportunity to turn and shoot straight at Fon Williams on 75 minutes; then when dangerous wide man Nick Blackman for once got on the outside of Zoumana Bakayogo and sliced his cross into the crowd.

Tranmere’s best efforts were again from long range with Robinson, Power and Jake Cassidy going closest to the target.